The EEC provides equal market conditions to enterprises across the Eurasian Economic Union

Last year the Eurasian Economic Commission considered eleven applications of the Union countries on grounds of violations of the general competition rules. For seven of them, evidence is being collected at the moment. Violations occur on the markets of aviation transportation, electrical steel, electrical equipment, trotyl, biologically active additives, dairy products and poultry.
As an example, Nurlan Aldabergenov spoke about the case of reduction of roaming prices in the territory of the EAEU. The roaming market was considered by the Commission as socially significant, its services are used by more than 20 million citizens of the Eurasian Union, living in the border areas. Based on the results of the analysis performed by the Commission with the assistance of experts, the vast majority of the Union subscribers are not content with the high communication cost in roaming.
The analysis of prices for services of mobile operators from 2013 to 2015 revealed that rates for outgoing roaming calls in these EAEU countries are significantly higher than the rates for domestic calls and the maximum tariff in, for example, EU countries.
Given the importance of availability of mobile services, the Commission, together with the competition authorities and operators of such services of the Union States took some actions to reduce the cost of roaming services. The result is a significant reduction of roaming tariffs by mobile operators. For example, VimpelCom Ltd group of companies has lowered its tariffs for services on average by 10 times.
“Belarusian mobile operators have lowered the roaming prices by 2.5 times. Thus, people can now save on mobile communication more 60 thousand Belarusian rubles per year. The annual aggregate savings of the EAEU subscribers using roaming services can amount up to 135 million Belarusian rubles, and the EEC competition authorities will continue to create conditions for further reduction of roaming tariffs”, said Nurlan Aldabergenov. “The ultimate goal is a zero tariff for international roaming service in the EAEU countries".
Previously, the Commission had considered the application of Gomel chemical plant JSC about ensuring equal conditions of competition for the cross-border market of apatite concentrate. The EEC experts analyzed the prices of apatite concentrate in 2012-2014 in the cross-border market of Russia and Belarus and identified different approaches to pricing policies on domestic and foreign markets. As a result of the work by the Commission together with the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, in 2015 the sale price of apatite concentrate for Belarusian consumers equalled with the sale price for Russian consumers.
In order to promote competition and prevent violations of common competition rules on cross-border market of phosphate raw materials, recommendations of the EEC Board are being elaborated now, which are aimed at ensuring equal access and fair pricing policy for all market participants for apatite concentrate in the EAEU.
Having considered the application of the Ministry of industry of Belarus about the possible signs of violation of the competition rules in the market of lifts and lift equipment in Russia, the Commission has made it possible for products of the Belarusian enterprise “Mogilevliftmash” to access the market.
In the field of parallel imports, of April 13 this year, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council instructed to make changes, envisaging the possibility of making exceptions to the principle of exhaustion of trademark rights in respect of spare parts, medicines, medical equipment, consumer goods, perfumery and cosmetic products, in the Treaty on the EAEU.
According to the EEC Minister, in addition to the improvement of the competition in the market, the introduction of parallel imports can have a significant social and economic effect. In the case of legalization of parallel imports, price reduction for medicines in particular may amount to 550%, for perfumery and cosmetic products to 300%, for auto spare parts to 200%, for clothes to 50%, for medical devices to 25%.
Nurlan Aldabergenov also noted that the Commission on Competition and Antitrust Regulation is developing codes of fair trade practices. This is a common tool of market regulation. The EEC is now working on three codes: automotive, pharmaceutical and retail chains. They will establish the rules of relationships between market participants in these areas.
The codes are aimed at the development of competition and the reduction of violations of the General rules of competition, including at the creation of non-discriminatory and equal market access conditions for the business entities of the EAEU Member States.
Press-release at the official Eurasian Economic Commission web-site